Page 44 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)

I drew back, the words echoing in my head.

“Marry? You and me? The two of us?”

“That is generally how marriages work. At least that’s how they worked a hundred years ago.”

I’d been in the Ether with him for months. Engagements in Emrys could happen within a week during the season. Not that I intended to measure my own life by their standards anymore, but I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Still, it felt sudden.

“Are you certain? I’m not doubting you,” I assured him, “but we’re in the middle of something that could impact all of Rayus, not just Emrys.

We’re tangled in a web of strife created by the gods.

Do you not want to wait until things calm down?

To make absolutely certain this is what you want once things settle? ”

He liked me in the Ether, but things might be very different after the hour.

Orion knelt in front of me.

“No. I don’t want to wait and I don’t want to reconsider.

I’ve waited over a lifetime for something that I thought might never come.

I lost everything that mattered to me. I thought helping Death was all I was good for anymore, but that’s not true.

You matter to me. I will do whatever I can to help you, to protect you, and to make you happy.

And at the risk of being far too traditional, I’d like to do it as your husband, not just a man you met in the woods. ”

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.

“You could never be just another man to me. You are the voice that spoke to me in my dreams, before I’d even met you. You’re the one who’s kept me going down here, and who has never once tried to change me. Of course I’ll marry you.”

He threw his arms back around me.

“This is truly the happiest moment I’ve had in the Ether. I know you wouldn’t want me asking your family’s permission, but I also know how deeply you care for them. I’ll find a way to win them over.”

I scoffed, picturing Ambrose with his nose in the air.

“I don’t care what they say. I won’t be separated from you.”

He’d waited all this time to return, and he was more concerned with how those closest to me would react.

The only family he had left was a distant cousin who had taken over the estate, and even if by some miracle of the gods we could prove that Orion was in fact the rightful heir, where would that leave him?

He’d be alone without family in a large house, on a large estate, and at odds with the cousin whom he’d just ousted from the position.

“What about you?” I asked him. “What of your family seat? Are you going to try and take back your estate?”

If he wanted it, I’d support him as well. I’d do anything I could to make it happen. I’d dig through every Holmes record in the library. I’d help forge documents if that’s what it took.

“Truthfully, I’d just as soon not. My goal hasn’t been to be the duke for years. If I never see my title again and need to pick up a trade, that would be fine. After my time in the Ether, I’d be happy to be a gardener on an estate, except …”

He stayed silent for so long that I worried he wasn’t going to answer at all.

“Except?” I prompted gently.

He looked away.

“What would I have to offer you, then? How could I ever ask for your hand with nothing to my name?”

My breath caught in my throat.

“There is no one else I want by my side. I would live with you anywhere,” I answered honestly.

I would not let the people around us be the thing that kept us apart. I would make my own decisions. I couldn’t control the consequences, but I was free to decide who I wanted to spend my life with.

“Oh dear!”

I threw a hand over my mouth.

“Should I be concerned?” Orion gave half a smile as he said it, his voice light.

There was one person in particular who might argue I wasn’t free to offer my hand to anyone. What was Ry going to think? Bellamy had started as a small annoyance, and now he might be the undoing of the best thing to ever happen to me.

“It shouldn’t be. There’s … something I haven’t told you.

Something that I should have, but at first it simply wasn’t the priority on my mind.

Then, I didn’t think it mattered, because the issue had surely resolved itself.

But you do deserve to know. And it’s not that I’ve been trying to hide it.

I haven’t even thought about it in weeks. ”

I wrung my hands.

“Whatever you have to say, even if it’s a ‘no,’ I will listen openly. You know I’ll help you no matter what, whether you accept me or not.”

“I’ve already accepted. This has nothing to do with a lack of interest. It’s a problem with me, not with you. Once you hear it, you might want to take back your proposal.”

“I’m going to have to disagree with you there.”

The words were right on my tongue, but it took great effort to push them out.

“It’s … an engagement. Another engagement. I am engaged. I mean, I was engaged. Before this. I’m sure he thinks I’m dead now. But before the last Unseen Hour, there was a proposal and?—”

I was doing an awful job of explaining myself, and I knew it.

Ry’s mouth twisted down, his eyes focused on the dirt.

“I see. You have a fiancé. There’s already someone waiting for you.”

“It’s not what you might be thinking,” I rushed to assure him. “I am engaged, but I never even really said yes.”

Orion looked back up at me, the blue in his eyes flashing dangerously.

“You didn’t say yes? This was a forced situation? Who arranged this? ”

His anger was justified, as far as I was concerned. He may have spent a hundred years in the Ether unbothered by etiquette or society, but he was well aware how it worked. How it had worked in his life as well as mine. This wasn’t unheard of.

Women agreed, but not often because of love.

“It wasn’t technically forced. My mother had started pressuring me to find a husband. Truthfully, she should have done it years ago, based on my age. She’d only held off so long because she was grieving the death of my father.”

“So she’s responsible?”

I shook my head. I was explaining everything horribly.

“No. My brother Ambrose is the one who agreed to it when asked for permission. There is a man. A Marquess. Bellamy. Bellamy Bonds.”

“Marquess Bonds. I’ve not heard of the family.” His voice was still tense, but I grabbed ahold of the distraction.

“You wouldn’t have. His family moved to Emrys a couple of generations ago.

In fact, I think they likely rose to prominence within a few years of your disappearance.

Bellamy’s grandfather was from Tang and was a noble emissary.

He married a noblewoman here and was a favorite of the king at that time, I’m told.

They were granted a position and lands. Newer money in Emrys, but money for generations in Tang. ”

Orion steepled his hands, placing his fingers under his chin.

“Was that the reason for your brother’s acceptance? Financial? I know you’re not a product to be purchased, but if money is what they require, then I will find a way. I know what I said about losing my estate, but I’ll fight for it if that’s the only way to gain your family’s favor.”

I shot him a glare.

“You’re right about one thing. I am not a product to be purchased. My family doesn't need money. We already possess an utterly unsensible amount. As for my family’s favor … I’d marry you without it.”

I wanted them to appreciate Orion as much as I did, but if they didn’t, I’d settle with him somewhere new. We had survived the Ether; we could survive a journey to Sez, or Mejje, or even the lost country, if we had to live in the wilderness to truly be free.

I would miss Charlotte and Thomas, and my family, but I wasn’t going to let anyone’s opinions or rules keep me from Ry.

I glowered.

“This is all about tradition and expectations. I’m too old to be unmarried, still in the house with my brother and his new wife.

Bellamy means nothing to me. He’s just insufferable and persistent, and has dreadful timing.

He wanted to get married before Wintertide, but I convinced him to move the ceremony.

I knew I’d be gone before the actual wedding took place. ”

Orion’s glare faded.

“Was he aware you didn’t really want this marriage? Did he pressure you in any way?”

“No. He’s just another self-important bore. I don’t think he had any inkling that I wouldn’t be interested. He’s awful, but mostly because it’s so dull being in his company, and he’s not a fantastic dancer, either.”

Orion laughed as he finally displayed a smile.

“Well if that’s all, then.”

“He wanted to propose during the last season, and my friend Thomas helped me by pretending to consider my hand. Thomas and I have only ever been friends,” I rushed to assure Ry, “but he was more than willing to assist me when Bellamy expressed interest. I’d hoped that would hold him off until I could enact my plan to come after my father, but at some point he realized Thomas wasn’t serious about my hand. ”

“I will owe Thomas thanks. ”

I sagged in relief. For once, someone wasn’t questioning my motives when I very clearly defined what Thomas was to me.

“He and Charlotte are lovely, and he really did try. Bellamy approached my brother in the fall. I would have said no outright, but it would have caused such a commotion, and I didn’t think it was necessary. I thought if I could get down here, and then return with my father?—”

“They’d all be too focused on his return to worry about forcing you into a marriage.

Whether or not you tell your family the true story of the Ether, your father would know the truth.

He could side with you and rescind his acceptance.

Your family is established, and wealthy, and no protest Bellamy could make would hold water. ”

I nodded.

“Precisely. As far as I am concerned, I am a free woman. I don’t feel any loyalty to Bellamy whatsoever, but I did feel you deserved to know. Are you angry?”

“Not at you, although I’m more than willing to release some anger if anyone questions your decision. Now that everything is out in the open, let me ask again. Celia Hipnosi, will you give me permission to marry you? And to adventure together, no matter where life takes us?”

“Yes!” I threw myself into his arms again, grinning. “Now, do you think we have a little more time before we have to leave?”

“For?”

I trailed a hand down his neck, then pulled him in for a kiss by his shirt collar.

He grinned when he pulled back.

“Starlight, I can always make time for that.”